Lucknow, Apr 4 (IANS): The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has ordered a Cental Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the decision of the former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government to allot a tender to sell high security registration plates in the state to a Mumbai-based company.

While setting aside the contract, the court Tuesday also ordered a CBI probe into it and the circumstances under which the deal was awarded to Mumbai-based Shimnit Utsch India Pvt Ltd.

A division bench of Justice D.P. Singh and Justice S.C. Chaurasia also slapped a Rs.50 lakh fine to be recovered from the Uttar Pradesh government and the company in equal proportion.

The court directed the state government to hold an enquiry fixing responsibility on officials who participated in finalizing the contract in favour of the company and recover the amount from them.

The terse order came on the writ petition filed by Celex Technologies Pvt Ltd and others challenging the contract awarded to Shimnit.

The court asked the CBI to complete its investigation within six months and to apprise the court of the progress every two months.

The Mayawati government had invited tenders for high-security number plates. On Feb 14, it granted the contract to Shimnit. The other bidders said this was done in violation of statutory provisions.